New Zealand's HWR Hydrogen installs Plug Power's 1MW PEM electrolyzer in Invercargill to power Southland's green hydrogen refueling network for heavy trans
A flagship transport and services conglomerate in New Zealand's South Island has taken delivery of a hydrogen production system intended to anchor a growing regional refueling network, with the company eyeing further expansion as the country's commercial hydrogen sector moves from concept into daily operation.
H.W. Richardson Group Limited's HWR Hydrogen division has received a 1 MW GenEco PEM electrolyzer from Plug Power, the Slingerlands, New York-based hydrogen technology company listed on NASDAQ under the ticker PLUG. The unit will be installed at HWR Hydrogen's refueling station in Invercargill, located in New Zealand's Southland region, where it will generate hydrogen on-site to supply a fleet of heavy trucks operating on a dual-fuel hydrogen-diesel system. Those trucks are built by Change Fuel Technologies, a separate division operating within the H.W. Richardson Group that develops hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel technology capable of being retrofitted onto existing diesel engines.
The arrangement allows HWR to introduce hydrogen into its commercial transport fleet without replacing current vehicles outright, reducing the capital burden of transitioning large fleets to lower-emission fuels. Gareth Wishart, General Manager of Technology and Innovation at HWR, said the Invercargill station will initially provide hydrogen to Change Fuel Technologies-built dual-fuel trucks operated by HWR and other customers across the Southland region.
Wishart also noted the station will be ready to refuel OEM-supplied hydrogen vehicles for HWR companies and the broader industry as those vehicles become available, describing the installation as a template the company plans to replicate across the South Island as hydrogen uptake increases. H.W. Richardson Group is one of New Zealand's largest privately owned transport companies, headquartered in Invercargill. Its operations span transport, petroleum, ready-mixed concrete, contracting, quarrying, and technology services across New Zealand and Australia.
For Plug Power, the HWR deployment is one of several projects the company has accumulated across Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, Plug technology is already in use supporting Hiringa Energy's green hydrogen refueling network. In Australia, Plug was selected to supply a 50 MW GenEco PEM electrolyzer system for Orica's Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, which the company describes as the largest renewable hydrogen project in Australia to reach a final investment decision. That installation is expected to produce around 4,700 metric tons of renewable hydrogen each year.
José Luis Crespo, CEO of Plug Power, said the HWR project carries significance that goes beyond the scale of the individual electrolyzer unit. "Plug is building a strong presence alongside this emerging market, with the technology and experience to support projects at every scale," Crespo said. "As hydrogen adoption grows across New Zealand and Australia, we're positioned to grow with it."
Plug Power describes itself as a global leader in comprehensive hydrogen solutions, with GenEco electrolyzers deployed across five continents. The company also reports more than 76,000 GenDrive fuel cell systems in service and over 280 hydrogen-powered material handling sites deployed to date. Its own hydrogen generation network includes production facilities in Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisiana, with a combined output capacity of approximately 40 tons per day. Customers served by Plug Power include Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, BMW, and BP.
The dual-fuel model being developed by HWR and Change Fuel Technologies reflects one of the practical routes being pursued in the region as heavy transport operators look for ways to reduce emissions without waiting for a full turnover of their existing vehicle fleets. By allowing hydrogen to be blended into diesel-powered trucks through retrofitting, the approach lowers the financial threshold for commercial operators considering the switch, particularly those running large numbers of vehicles across regional freight corridors. Plug Power noted that hydrogen projects across New Zealand and Australia now range from small distributed production installations designed to meet local demand, to large-scale industrial undertakings requiring hundreds of megawatts of electrolyzer capacity. The company described itself as equipped to serve the full spectrum of that market.
The Invercargill installation arrives at a point when New Zealand's hydrogen industry is translating earlier planning and investment into operational infrastructure across transportation, refueling, and industrial applications. Locally produced hydrogen is increasingly being directed at reducing emissions from sectors that are difficult to decarbonize through conventional electrification alone, with heavy freight transport representing a primary target.
HWR Hydrogen's stated mission is to produce hydrogen for industry while developing the local production and refueling infrastructure needed to support HWR businesses and outside customers. The broader H.W. Richardson Group, a family-owned conglomerate, describes its approach as combining long-term thinking, operational capability, and innovation across its diverse business activities in New Zealand and Australia.
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